Liquid fuel strainer assemblies include a filter body formed from filtering media shaped to define an enclosed interior space. The liquid fuel strainer assembly is attached to an inlet of a fuel pump, and filters particulate matter from fuel as the pump draws the fuel therein. Some filter bodies are shaped by attaching a first wall to an opposing second wall around an outer peripheral edge thereof, thereby forming the enclosed interior space therebetween. In order to keep the first wall and the second wall from collapsing against each other as the pump suctions fuel therethrough, a separator may be over-molded onto one or both of the first wall and/or the second wall, and disposed between the first wall and the second wall. The over-molded separator may include a plurality of rails, ribs, pads, standoffs, etc., that space the first wall from the second wall. However, at the locations where the separator is attached to the filter body, the separator blocks fuel flow through the filtering media. Furthermore, if the filtering media includes multiple layers for filtering particulate matter of different sizes, the over-molded separator tends to compress the multiple layers together, thereby reducing the efficiency of the multi-layered structure.